pbsthisdayinhistory:

August 6, 1945:  Hiroshima Bombing

On this day in 1945, in an effort to end World War II, the United States Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.  Three days later on August 9, another was dropped on Nagasaki.  These two bombings were the only times that nuclear weapons were used in war to date.

Over 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were killed within the first four months after the bombings, while many continued to suffer injuries related to radiation exposure for years to come.

Miles O’Brien of PBS NewsHour examines the long-term and immediate effects of exposure to radiation after the Fukushima Daiichi power plant meltdown in 2011.

Photo:  Nagasaki, Library of Congress.